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In Order. Don't Look Back

In chapter 19, the Lord sends two angels to Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot invites them to have dinner and rest at his home with him and his family. Their time together is interrupted

by an angry mob consisting of all the men in the city. They demand Lot turn over his guest to them to do with them as they please. Lot fends them off as well as he could, even offering his daughters to them in place of the angels. It doesn’t get to that point as the men pull Lot back inside and keep the house safe.

Obviously by this point Sodom and Gomorrah have become beyond wicked and God decides it is time to correct the problem by destroying the cities. The angels inform Lot of God’s intentions and instruct him to flee the city with his family and NOT to look back.

Genesis 19:15-17

With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”

Lot’s wife looks back. Lot’s wife becomes a pillar of salt.

In most cases, when someone is looking back on their life it is with longing. Sometimes what we’re looking back on and longing for is a romanticized version of reality. Lot’s wife knew the evil nature that was Sodom and Gomorrah, and yet it was her home and she could not stop herself from looking behind at what she was running away from. It’s hard not to dwell on what was; after all it was familiar, it was routine, and it might have even been fun, but if God is moving you, you can be sure it is for your good. Keep your eyes on the Lord and He will continue to lead you into the safe harbor of His grace.

When you focus on what you’re missing out on, you miss out on what God has planned for you. Challenge yourself to stop gazing longing at what others have or what you used to have, and ask God to show you what your next move should be. And once He shows you, be all in. There will be people who doubt the calling God has placed on your life and think you foolish. Lot’s own son-in-laws thought his warning to leave the city was all a joke, and in the end they remained and were destroyed along with the rest. Be courageous, be forward moving.